Ironically, JDR's thesis (with condiderable supporting evidence) is that The Hobbit was always tied to the Silmarillion universe.
It's probably accurate to say that CRT doesn't feel animosity toward those who work on (legal) projects which are not to his taste. Alan Lee's involvement with the movies (which CRT loathed) certainly didn't prevent CRT's specific request that Lee illustrate The Children of Hurin. In JDR's case the only issue was whether his scholarly abilities were up to snuff- and as Mr Baggins has received the nihil obstat and imprimatur they plainly were. Whether on his own time an author attends comic conventions wearing furry hobbit feet is his own business.
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